Hurry....Hurry... Your taxes are due!

Updated 11:43 pm, Monday, April 16, 2012

For accountants, their usual day of emancipation is April 15, Tax Day, the day when people must come to terms with the Internal Revenue Service and their bank accounts.

After deadline passes, accountants and tax preparers can collapse. They can sleep. They can stop obsessing about 1040s. They can recharge the batteries in their calculators. They can leave their offices and their empty containers of take-out food and leave the excuse-ridden world of procrastination behind.

But this year, April 15 fell on Sunday. No chance to file forms that day. Monday, April 16, was Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C., a legal holiday in that city. The IRS was closed.

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Why April 17 is this year's tax deadline
Because April 15, the traditional deadline to file taxes, fell on a Sunday, and because Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C., April 16, is a public holiday in that city, taxpayers have two extra days to file their taxes.
Taxpayers must file their taxes, or a request for a six-month extension, by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.

That means taxpayers have until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, April 17 to file their taxes or, at least, ask for an extension.

"It's a little bit hectic,'' said Christopher Tallet, a Ridgefield CPA. "But this is fun. It's what we live for.''

One reason things are busier is that the IRS is monitoring foreign investments more closely, Tallet said. That means a more fastidious reckoning of such investments, more IRS forms 8939 to fill.

Also, electronic filing of tax forms means more questions from the IRS can bounce back to the filers. That means more emails and phone calls from tax preparers to clients, looking for answers.

"A big change is that in Connecticut, if you're getting a refund, it has to be by direct deposit to your bank account or to a debit card,'' said CPA Lyn Meyers, of Meyers and Co, in Danbury. "The state of Connecticut is not writing checks anymore.''

Not every CPA was pulling hair and muttering under their breath Monday.

Meyers said in general, the last day of the tax season can sometimes be placid, with the brunt of the work done.

"Today, it's a little busier,'' he said. "But it can be quiet.

Gene Cassavechia, a New Fairfield CPA, has been in the business since 1963. By now, he said, his clients know to get their forms filled out and signed on time.

"I generally fill out only five or six extensions a year,'' he said. "That's a lot for me.''

Despite being open on Sunday, Stockwell said some of the Linda Bates clients are still lagging.

For those who need extensions, the IRS said to mail in federal tax form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. It must be postmarked no later than April 17. Forms can be found at www.irs.gov.

As to why people fudge and fidget and don't get things done on time, CPA Joan McGuinness, of Danbury, has a concise reply.

"Maybe it's because they owe money,'' she said.

When the final storm passes Tuesday, Meyers said he will relax and enjoy life. As only veteran of the tax trenches can.

"Maybe I'll even do my own taxes,'' he said, laughing. "If you're an accountant, you either file in February, or you ask for an extension.''